My dear Eric Solheim,
I thought I must write to you since you and your country seem to be in the news once again now, accused of collaborating to smuggle some twelve terrorists out of our country at the height of our war with them.
The accusations came not from us, Eric, but from one of your own newspapers.
And of course we also heard your response which was to say your country had a long tradition of ‘helping people at risk’!
As you probably know, Eric, there was a time when people in this country welcomed you and believed you were genuine in your efforts to work out a truce between the government of that time and the then quite powerful Tigers.
In fact, when you brokered that ceasefire many people hailed it as a great achievement and believed it would be the end of the war. Even the Green Man who governed then, was being hailed as a great statesman.
Of course all seemed well and good for a while. Our troops were confined to their barracks and the Green Man ensured that they kept their side of the bargain, even when the Tigers began violating the truce, at first occasionally and later, quite blatantly.
That was when your colours began to show, Eric. It slowly became obvious you were not quite the impartial peacemaker you pretended to be and you had your own agenda which clearly favoured the Tigers.
Those were the days when you used to visit our country even if Prabhakaran sneezed, offering your advice on how we should handle it. And, looking back now, it does seem you were able to fool us for quite some time!
In fact Eric, you were so smart you were able to fool the Tigers too. And that is why Prabhakaran thought the ceasefire you brokered was a trap for him and wanted the Green Man defeated in the elections, so that he could easily get out of the truce.But what we found was that the more he ordered his men to violate the ceasefire, the more partial you became and then it began to dawn on us you were quite clearly siding with the Tigers. So, this latest revelation that you smuggled Tigers out of the country comes as no surprise, Eric.
Of course it took a change of government and some foolish decisions by Prabhakaran himself such as shutting off the water supply in Mavil Aru to kick-start the military offensive and by then the ceasefire that you brokered was in tatters anyway and it had to be called off.
The rest as they say Eric, is history. No matter what Ban Ki moon or Robert O’ Blake may say, there is peace in our country now. People travel about freely. Thousands of former Tigers have shed their striped uniforms, been rehabilitated and are leading normal lives.
Most of all, terrorism does not haunt our country now. We are not forever on the lookout as to when the next bomb or landmine will explode. Even those countries which preach to us about human rights such as America and Britain do not enjoy that kind of freedom, Eric.
That is why most Sri Lankans now think waging war against the Tigers was the correct decision and that your ceasefire was a colossal blunder that cost us dearly, leading eventually to the loss of thousands of lives on both sides.
So, when you tell us you were only helping ‘people at risk’ you are really admitting that you helped the Tigers, Eric, because they were at risk when there were military operations to round them up.
If that is the yardstick you use you should have helped Osama bin Laden escape when he was being hunted down by the Americans. Why, wouldn’t that fit the criteria of your country ‘having a long tradition of helping those at risk’?
Anyway, Eric, I think we know what is best for our country now and we are quite happy with getting rid of the Tigers, even if it had to be done the hard way. Sure, the Moons and the Blakes will shout from their rooftops but that doesn’t matter, really.
The best you could do now Eric, is to accept that you made a mistake with your adventures in our country and keep your mouth firmly shut. That way, you can avoid making a public spectacle of yourself!
And while you do that, spare a thought for the Green Man, will you? His involvement in the ceasefire that you brokered has almost permanently ruined his chances of getting elected to office again, so that must count as one of your ‘achievements’ in our country, Eric!
Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS-Had you somehow managed to achieve a lasting settlement out of your ceasefire Eric, you could have even aspired for the Nobel Peace Prize awarded by your own country. But then you would have had to share it with Prabhakaran, wouldn’t you? And had that happened, I am quite certain that the Moons and the Blakes would have led the applause too…
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